My nephew's stranded in NO -- I hope

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

That is, I hope he’s stranded rather than the alternative.

My nephew’s wife is a nurse in New Orleans and she got called to her hospital Sunday for emergency duty the day before Katrina hit. There was no way my nephew was going to leave without her, so he went to the hospital with her (sorry, don’t know which one right now). No problem, they were locked in, no one coming in or going out. The phone lines around here have been swamped, and most calls get a fast-busy signal, but he finally called us Tuesday. They let him out to go check on their apartment and dogs. The dogs were fine, no flooding yet in the apartment, and he said he had enough food and water to last a week.

Yesterday, his wife called us to let us know that she and everyone else had been evacuated from the hospitial, but she hasn’t been able to reach my nephew on the phone to let him know. Needless to say, she didn’t have the option of holding up the evacuation until she could check their apartment.

My nephew’s a resourceful guy. I know that he’s probably fine and the only reason no one’s been able to reach him is because of the overloaded phone lines. But I’m picturing him making his way back to the hospital and finding it empty. Even though there’s no phone, no newspaper, no TV, no electricity, I assume he’s figured out that it’s been evacuated, and is now holed up in his apartment.

Now he’s stuck in a bad part of New Orleans with no way out, and so far, no communications. And no way to get to him.

I know he’s resourceful, but we’ve been innundated with the same news coverage as the rest of you guys. Needless to say, his mother’s a bit of a mess right now.

What a fucking mess.

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I’m sure we all hope for the best for your nephew and for those like him stuck in New Orleans like that. Some people had to stay, like his wife, for the best of reasons, and now it’s hard(and dangerous) to get out.

Keep us posted, will you?

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Will do. For all I know, he’s kicking at his mother’s right now, sipping ice tea.

4

OK, I feel like I can close this thread now. My nephew’s fine.

He stayed at his apartment for a couple of days before he felt like he needed to go back to the hospital. Remember, he left before the levees collapsed, so it was a whole different world going back. He said that when he hit his first stretch of water, it was about 4 feet deep and he saw an old woman walking toward him through the water. He asked her if she knew a way to get to the hospital, she just said, “Honey, it’s all water.”

He had to swim the last couple of blocks; he estimated that it was about 10 feet deep or so. When he got to the hospital, he had to swim through the parking garage and found a second story door that wasn’t locked, even though it was supposed to be. It turns out that they had stopped the evacuation of the hospital, so his wife was still there. He only had to spend one more night in the hospital, no electricy or water. He said that the clinic across the street had been looted, and all night they heard people yelling that they were going to break in to the hospital next. It sounded so surreal; it reminded me of Escape from New York. They were evacuated yesterday and made their way back to her parent’s house in Gonzales.

My stepson, meanwhile, is in the Coast Guard, stationed in Corpus Christi, and has been on medical leave for the last two weeks because he had an inguinal hernia repaired, and watching the television has been killing him because he hasn’t been able to do anything. Hearing about his cousin was the last straw. He, his wife, and his son left day before yesterday. His big plan was that he was going to drop them off at our house, and he was going into New Orleans and get his cousin, dammit. Luckily, by the time he got here, his cousin had already called to say he and his wife was fine.

However, he’s picking my nephew up in Gonzales as we speak. The plan now is that they’re going to rescue the dogs my nephew had to leave. I didn’t even try to talk them out of it; I knew that I didn’t have a chance. I think they’ll be fine, but I still hope they get turned back at the city limits. They both know New Orleans like the backs of their hands, though, so they’ll probably be here tonight with two dogs in tow.

To add to the family circle, my brother is a battalion commander in the Oklahoma National Guard. His battalion has been called out, and he should have landed by now at the Naval station in New Orleans. When I asked what his mission was, he said, “I don’t know. They just told us to report with our rucksacks and weapons. I guess we’ll know when we get there.”

We were fine here in Breaux Bridge, LA, but I feel like I’ve been through the wringer. It’s just been . . . surreal.

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I know you said the previous post was an ending, but for an epilogue let us know when the family members(and dogs!) all arrive.

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Yes, please let us know if they and the dogs got back okay. I need some good news.

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My stepson, my nephew, the dogs, and the cat are at our house, safe and sound. They got into New Orleans by convoying with ASPCA trucks that were also going into the city. (He said electrical power had been restored to at least one section of New Orleans, by the way). Getting to my nephew’s apartment took a bit of doing, but they retrieved his pets and they’re sitting at me feet right now after loading up on water (no water for three days).

My nephew isn’t traumatized or anything, mostly he’s just pissed at the ineptitude he saw. He said most of the doctors at the hospital (Memorial Hospital, by the way) helicoptered out before the hurricane hit, leaving mostly nurses and visitors to tend to the patients. There were a few doctors who stayed, he said. He said the doctors and nurses, including his wife, deserve a medal. He said they evacuated about 170 patients, and about 30 others died, most of whom were critical to begin with. Since the electricity was out, he and the other visitors who stayed shlepped all the patients, one by one, in wheel chairs or gurneys, from the second floor to the eleventh floor, where the helipad was.

Not to start up the debate dealt with in other threads, but a few of the things he’s angry about:

  1. The doctors leaving the hospital, as mentioned.
  2. Being told that the hospital would be evacuated Tuesday, then not hearing anything until Thursday.
  3. No supplies being sent to the hospital, including food,water, and gasoline. But . . .
  4. The helicopter that evacuated the last patients brought in about a thousand pounds of supplies. After the patients had been evacuated.
  5. The National Guard gave them some walky-talkies Wednesday to communicate with the rescue effort, but he realized after the National Guard guys left that none of the walky-talkies were charged.
  6. All aircraft were grounded for two hours during Bush’s fly-by over the area, halting the evacuation at the hospital until the next day.

And so one. But he, his wife, two dogs, and cat are safe and sound. And thanks to all for the kind words and kind thoughts.

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Er, apparently Hurricane Katrina also caused typos. Sorry.